


Never Change

by Ash_Dood



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Childhood Friends, Eventual Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I Tried, Light Angst, M/M, WELL the angst gets worse as we progress, this is my first fanfic...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-14 10:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15386379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash_Dood/pseuds/Ash_Dood
Summary: {CHILDHOOD PHASE}Shuichi and Kokichi are childhood friends, however, Kokichi dissapears one day, never to be seen again. Nine years later, Shuichi sees Kokichi once more, but something's off.





	1. Chapter 1

Shuichi was nudged awake by his uncle like every other morning. He squeezed his stuffed bear as he rubbed the sleepy out of his eyes. He felt his uncle nudge him once more before Shuichi sighed and sat upright, his eyes half-lidded, blinking drowsily. "C'mon bud, I've got a surprise for you." his uncle stated with a lilt in his tone. Shuichi's eyes widened and he gasped. "A-Are you bringing me to work?! Will I be able to see the cases?" His heart was racing with excitement, could it really be that his uncle had decided to bring him to the Detective's Industry? Or perhaps he was blinded with this rush of excitement? "Haha, you'll see Shuichi. Just get up and get dressed, I made your favorite, Blueberry pancakes with syrup on top!" his uncle exclaimed merrily, ruffling Shuichi's already messy bed hair. He watched his uncle stand up from the side of his bed and he strolled out of the room, closing the door behind him. Shuichi jumped out of bed, completely awake and ready to roll. He got out of his pajama's and got into his striped pants and white button-down, fiddling with the buttons. Afterwards he pulled on his off-white socks and slid into his black slacks hurriedly, opening his door and running out of the room.

 

"Hey Shuichi, could you pass the pepper?" Shuichi put down his utensils as he took the pepper shaker and slid it down to his uncle. "Thanks, Shuichi-." Shuichi nodded as he picked up his utensils again and continued to dig into his breakfast without a pause. He had been waiting to go to the Detective's Industry his whole life! He has always been fascinated with mysteries and had a knack for problem-solving. He had to admit, he was surprised that his uncle rarely got annoyed with him, especially since Shuichi asks him if he could go once every week. He aspires to be like his uncle one day, patient, smart, diligent, and polite. He finished eating his pancakes and grabbed his plate, put his utensils on it, and jumped off of the seat. He brought the plate to the sink and washed it off with water and soap, along with the butter knife and fork. He set it on the towel next to the sink so it could dry, and he waited patiently by the door for his uncle to finish eating. "Wow bucko, you're pretty excited, hm?" his uncle hummed, finishing eating and washing his plate and utensils. Shuichi nodded vigorously, opening the door for his uncle. He went after him and opened the car door, sitting in the back seat with his heart racing.

 

Shuichi couldn't believe his eyes when his eyes landed on the building in front of him. he looked towards his uncle with a betrayed look gracing his features. "Uncle? You're bringing me to a *daycare*?" he murmured, balling up his fists. His uncle sighed and crouched down to Shuichi's height. "Listen Shuichi, I know you've been wanting to visit the Industry for a while, but I cant bring you there, not right now. And I figured it would be better for you to go out and make some friends while I'm out working instead of staying home alone. You understand, right?" Shuichi inhaled and exhaled, wiggling his fingers at his sides. "Okay, whatever you say, uncle.." He murmured, his tone somber. His uncle's eyebrows upturned and he sighed gently. "How about I go and get you some Häagen-Dazs? Chocolate? Strawberry? Or perhaps vanilla?" His uncle wondered aloud, making a child-like thinking face. Shuichi knew that he was trying to make him feel better, but he couldn't help but giggle a little. "Vanilla, please?" He asked politely. He felt his uncle ruffle his hair, standing up. "Shall we?" Shuichi nodded and he grasped his uncle's hand as they both walked towards the building in front of them.

 

Shuichi stood in front of a group of children, his hands straight by his sides. He was always home-schooled, so socializing wasn't his thing. He waved a tentative hand and stuttered out his introduction. "U-um hi, my name is Saihara Shuichi, a-and I look forward to getting to.. To know you all." he bowed, and he nervously walked to the crowd of kids standing up, eager to greet him. A pretty girl around his age came up to him and stuck out a hand, struggling to stand upright due to the mass amount of kids trying to greet him. "Hi, Saihara-kun! My name is Akamatsu Kaede!" She exclaimed, struggling to have a clear voice amongst all of the children. "HEY! AKAMATSU-CHAN, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Shuichi gasped as he heard a high-pitched voice call, and lo and behold, the kid that shouted those words shoved his way through the crowd and he held out a hand, forcing Shuichi's hand out of Akamatsu's and into his. He shook it vigorously and he had a wide grin on. "Sup! My name's Ouma Kokichi! But feel free to call me leader!" He whispered the last part and winked at him, letting go of his hand. Right after that, two other kids approached them. One with reddish-black hair, and another with wacky purple hair. "Hi! The name's Momota Kaito! S'nice to meet ya, Saihara-kun! Oh! And this is Harumaki! She's not much of a talker." He exclaimed, shaking Shuichi's hand. The so called "Harumaki" grumbled, fumbling with one of her twin tails, mumbling out,"Its Harukawa Maki, not Harumaki.." He spoke with the group before having to go and meet the rest of the kids, shaking hands and exchanging names.

 

"You sure are popular, Saihara-chan! Well I mean, aren't you related to that super famous detective Saihara Chikao?" He heard Kokichi say and he nodded, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, Saihara-kun! That's really cool! Have you been able to work on any cases yet?" He turned his head to Kaede and he shook his head. "N-no, I'm too young.." He murmured, his tone more somber than he would've wanted it to be. "Well hey, at least you're related to the dude! I woulda loved to have a detective as an uncle!" He nodded his head to Kaito and he fiddled with his fingers. He didn't really know what to say, he was used to being back home by himself, reading every mystery novel in the library. "Does this daycare have any... Books?" He asked the group, looking around. "Yeah, it does! Why don't we show you around, Saihara-kun?" Kaede looked at him and smiled warmly. Pink dusted his cheeks lightly and he nodded. "Yeah... I would like that." He said, looking at the group once more before standing up. Kaede pointed out the music room, apparently her "most favorite place to hang out" while she was here. Then Kokichi pointed out the play station,"I love playing Clue and Yahzee there! You should play with me sometime, ahoge-chan!" He exclaimed, smirking. Kaede glared at him and Shuichi tilted his head in confusion. "Ahoge-chan....?" Kaede huffed and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, Its just Ouma-chan being Ouma-chan! He likes to call me Ahoge-chan all because of this one strand of hair that stands up." Kaede stated, motioning towards her "ahoge" that sits atop her head. "Oh you're just jealous that its not just you with the unique nickname!" Kokichi stuck his tongue out and he grinned as Kaede's face turned a deep red like a boiled octopus. 

 

After the group showed him the whole daycare, they all went to the library to read a book. Well, the library was definitely something new to him. He was used to having a huge library where you had to use a ladder to reach for a book if you weren't tall enough. But in this library, he had to crouch to get a book. Then there were bean-bag chairs instead of classy chairs that felt comfortable to sit on. He grabbed a seemingly interesting chapter book and sat down roughly on a blue bean bag chair with a "Oof" and he began to read. "Wow, Saihara-chan! You sure are quite the reader." He heard Kokichi say from the left side of him, reading his own book titled "101 Dalmations" Shuichi hummed in response and looked to his right. He saw Kaede reading a book about Music, and he tilted his book downwards to see Kaito reading a book about space with Maki. He smiled, going back to reading his book. Maybe being introduced to the orphanage wasn't so bad. Maybe having friends to do things with wasn't bad either.

Shuichi watched as everyone gathered around the door to the cafeteria. "So its lunchtime... Have we really been reading that long?" He murmured, getting up and putting the book back into it's rightful bin. He watched as the others did the same and he started to walk towards the cafeteria. "Woah there, Saihara-chan! Do you think you're the leader of the group? Leading us around like this?" He heard Kokichi exclaim in a melodramatic accusing tone. He tilted his head in confusion. "Um... I wasn't aware I was leading you guys around to begin with-" But he was cut off. "Okay, okay, mister smarty pants!" the short purple haired child complained overdramatically, storming off to the group of kids near the cafeteria. "Don't mind him, he's really weird sometimes." Kaede whispered to him. "Yeah! Ouma is really strange! Like an alien!" Kaito exclaimed. "And annoying.." Maki added, her voice barely a whisper. 

Shuichi had a ham and cheese sandwich at lunch, nothing too special. Kokichi ended up reluctantly rejoining the group, seemingly getting over something so petty. "So Saihara-kun, do you know when you're getting picked up by your uncle?" Kaede asked, her tone curious. "Oh, I'm getting picked up by him at seven... Why are you asking?" He tilted his head. "Oh...! Its just that I get picked up at five, Momota-kun gets picked up at five thirty, and Harukawa-san gets picked up at five forty-five." she exclaimed, waving her hands around in a "I surrender" motion. "What time does Ouma-kun get picked up?" He asked, confused as to why Kaede didn't mention his time. "Oh! Well you see.. Ouma-chan never gets picked up before us and he doesn't tell us what time he gets picked up either, so we don't really know..." she sighed, taking a sip out of her milk carton. Shuichi nodded and he felt his heart beat a bit faster. "Well, maybe I'll be able to figure it out, like a little mini case or something." He told her, his tone excited. "Wow Saihara-chan! You really are eager to get to the bottom of this, huh?" He heard Kokichi exclaim, his head resting on his palms. "Y-yeah I guess..." He mumbled, fumbling with his bangs. 

 

Shuichi didn't end up seeing what time Kokichi got picked up at. It must be past seven, because he didn't see him get picked up any time before that. Honestly it was strange, does his parents work really late or what? He kept thinking even when he was greeted by his uncle, and even on the ride home. 

"So, how was the daycare? Make any friends?" His uncle asks as Shuichi eats his ice cream silently. "Oh yeah, I made a lot of friends." he replied, still deep in his thoughts. "Hm? Well that's nice. Well, im going to be going to bed! Don't stay up too late, Shuichi." He heard his uncle go upstairs and shut the door to his room. Shuichi ended up finishing the pint of ice cream and he washed the spoon off, putting it on the towel next to the sink. He walked upstairs in his slippers, opened his bed room door and slipped into his bed, cocooning himself with blankets. He held onto his stuffed bear and he closed his eyes. For now, his thoughts focused on something other than the Detective's Industry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pensive. [SAIHARA'S POV]

It's been two months since Saihara came to the daycare. He's gotten close to some, to the point of considering them actual friends. He brings mystery novels to the daycare and reads them whenever its recess time, peacefully swaying as he swings at a steady pace on the swing set. He notices a flash of dark plum from the corner of his eye and he pauses, bookmarking his page as he looked around warily. 

"Uh, Ouma-kun... I know that you're heRE-!"

He gets pushed from behind, his hands gripping hard onto the swing sets chains. He swings up into the air, and he comes back down swiftly. His eyes wide, he looks behind him and sees a giggling Ouma. He frowns and glares daggers at the boy. If it weren't for the daycare rules that they were taught to follow, he would've thrown his book at Ouma's face plenty of times by now.

"Nishishi! DID YOU SEE YOUR FACE WHEN I PUSHED YOU?! Holy cannoli, your reactions are the best, Saihara-chan!" 

"Ouma-kun, you're lucky that you're my friend-"

"Or what?! Would you have snitched on me otherwise? You know that I hate snitchers!" The smaller of the two finished for him, resting his hands behind his head. "N-No... You know what, never mind." Saihara sighed, staring at Ouma as he laughed, his eyes dragging down the boy. "Hey, Ouma-kun. I didn't notice that you got a new bandana... It really suits you." Saihara said, though he was still annoyed with Ouma, he thought that it was better to get rid of the feeling through a nice, normal (Though most conversations with Ouma were unnerving and unusual.) conversation. 

"Huh? You really think so? I'm super flattered Saihara-chan!" Ouma exclaimed, making a pose. "It really fits, doesn't it? I gave the same looking bandana to the rest of my gang too, so you know that they're my property the moment you see them!" The boy laughed menacingly, his hands on his hips as if he were actually intimidating someone. Saihara could practically see Ouma's nose piercing the heavens. Like in one of those animes where a character was boasting and their noise was pointy while doing so. "Ouma-kun... You can't own a human being, you know.." He sighed, starting to swing lightly once again, the wind starting to softly blow his hair as he swung.

"Just kidding! You know that was a lie, Saihara-chan!" Ouma exclaimed, claiming the swing next to Saihara. Saihara watched as Ouma swung up and down, at an unusually slow pace. Though it was something trivial, Saihara couldn't help but ponder on it. he would've expected someone like Ouma to just go full speed, screaming something like; "SAIHARA-CHAN, I'M GOING TO SEE IF I CAN LAUNCH MYSELF INTO A TREE!" But as of now, he was almost going at the same slow pace Saihara was going at. Saihara shook his head. It probably doesn't even mean anything, he's just being too paranoid, afterall, Ouma was his friend. Not to mention, he still hadn't found out what time Ouma went home at. Surely the boy had a home and didn't live in a cave of some sorts? Nope, definitely not.

"-Chan! Saihara-chan! Earth to Jr. Detective, come ooooooon!" Saihara snapped out of his thoughts and he stared at Ouma, who was standing in front of him, waving his hands around Saihara's face. "Hey! We're going back inside cuz Mrs. Omaru said that it was supposed to rain! What a party pooper, am I right?" Ouma exclaimed, already skipping back to the door to the inside, looking back at Saihara before he stepped into the building. He looked up at the sky, clutching his novel close to his chest. Last time he checked, the sky was blue, with cumulus clouds looking as if they came out of a manga. Now, there were towering cumulonimbus clouds, replacing the once puffy white clouds. Saihara sighed, getting up from the swing set. Weather was very interesting, it could be peaceful one moment, and then come breaking down the second after. Before it began to drizzle, he ran back inside of the daycare building and closed the door shut, looking outside through a window as rain came down steadily. It was... Calming. 

After a few moments of looking outside, he felt something poke him in the back. He looked behind him and saw Akamatsu. "Hey Saihara-kun! Ouma-chan, Momota-kun, and I are playing Uno! Do you want to join in?" The girl asked, smiling. Saihara flushed and smiled. "S-sure... If you guys will have me." He replied, though he started to sputter when Akamatsu began to drag him over to the table where the group of kids were playing at. Saihara got himself situated in his chair as Akamatsu let go of his hand and sat down in her own chair. He looked at the deck of Uno cards in the middle of the table that were face down, and put a finger to his chin. He played Uno before with his uncle, surely he could remember how to play. He looked at Ouma as the boy took the deck of cards and dealt seven cards to each of the four kids face down. Ouma took the top card from the draw pile and turned it over, revealing a yellow five. "Okay! Akamatsu-chan, you can start." Ouma exclaimed, grinning mischievously.

.

Saihara inhaled and exhaled, wiping the thin layer of sweat from off of his forehead. He didn't know that he could get so worked up over a game like Uno. He glanced at Ouma and saw that he only had one card left, surely he wouldn't win... Right? Saihara looked down at his single card that he had. he just needed to have a red colored Uno card on the top of the discard pile, and then he could win the game. Akamatsu and Momota were right behind them, too. they both had two cards, and it was Akamatsu's turn. Akamatsu sighed as she drew a card from the draw pile, looking dejectedly down at her three cards. Then, it was Saihara's turn. He looked at the pile and his eyes widened. "Darn it... I don't have a green nine.." He grumbled, drawing a card from the drawing pile. Akamatsu and Momota gave him a sympathetic glance as Ouma giggled, looking as if he was getting a kick out of Saihara's bad luck. Momota put down a blue nine and glared daggers at Ouma. Ouma's eyes widened, and his brows furrowed in faux frustration. "AHA! You don't have a blue card or nine in a different color, do you?!" Momota exclaimed, clearly happy that the other boy seemingly didn't have what he needed to win, and Saihara along with Akamatsu were happy as well. Maybe the three of them had a chance of winning. Then, Ouma's frown turned into an evil grin that would scare even a serial killer. He slapped a wild card down onto the pile of cards, laughing. "I MISLEADED YOU ALL! Oh my gosh, you guys seriously fell for it! And it's such an old move, too!" He snorted, gripping the sides of his arms as he threw a laughing fit.

"O-Ouma-kun! Seriously?" 

"What? You mad, Saihara-chan? Bleeeegh!" Ouma taunted, sticking his tongue out.

"H-hey, lets not get into a fight! Ouma-chan won fair and square, even if he did a little cheeky trick in the end!" Akamatsu exclaimed, trying to be the mediator of the fight. 

Just then, Akamatsu turned around to see her father. "Father!" She exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. She hugged her father's leg as he waved at the group of kids she was playing with. "S-sorry guys, I've gotta go!" She exclaimed, waving at her friends as her father checked her out of the daycare. 

"Well that was.. Sudden." Saihara murmured and he looked around for the clock. It was a quarter after five, huh. Akamatsu's father was late, but it probably wasn't anything new since she didn't look too concerned about it. Saihara looked at Momota and stared. "You should be getting picked up in five minutes, right?" Momota nodded and sighed. "Yeah, but I want to stay longer so I can pound this piece of crud into the ground..!" The boy exclaimed, locking Ouma's head in his arm and giving him a noogie. "Heeeeeey! Don't be so mean!!" Ouma complained, struggling to get out of Momota's grasp. Momota laughed and let go of the small boy, snickering at his reaction. "Uh huh..." Saihara murmured, staring at the two as they had their childish banter. 

.

After Momota got picked up from daycare, that just left Ouma and Saihara. Okay, now he was going to question Ouma. After two months, surely he could start and get a lead maybe? As he watched Ouma pick at his finger nails with his thumb, he started it. "So... Ouma-kun. When do you really get picked up?" Ouma looked at Saihara from across the table and squinted his eyes at the boy. "Seriously, Saihara-chan? After like, ten million months you're still onto me? Gosh, you're persistent." Ouma sighed, and examined his nails with a far away look in his eyes. "Ouma-kun I'm being serious, I'm starting to wonder if you live all alone, or if you don't get picked up at all, or if you-" Ouma groaned and rolled his eyes like he's never rolled them before. "Listen Saihara-chan, sorry to break it to your little detective heart, but I walk home. That's right, I walk home. I stay behind so late because I can get extra food from the cafeteria, and plus, I can play with toys that I don't have back at home. Oh, also, my parents know I do this and they're perfectly fine with it!" The boy exclaimed, grinning innocently. Saihara's breath hitched. Seriously? He waited this whole time to be rewarded with that answer? "Seriously?" He breathed out. "Yessums! As serious as I can be, Jr. Detective~!" Ouma smirked, seemingly enjoying Saihara's reaction. Ouma sighed and got out of his chair, looking away. "Well, Saihara-chan, I'm bored and I want to play with my other friends now, so cya tomorrow!" The boy exclaimed, skipping off to join his... Other friends.

An hour and a half passed, and Saihara saw his uncle's car through a window in the daycare. He looked around. No sign of Ouma. He waved at Mrs. Omaru and went to the front desk, waiting patiently for his uncle to check him out of the daycare. His uncle came in and checked him out, watching as Saihara wasted no time to go outside. "Hey! How was your day? You seem grumpy..." His uncle commented as Saihara stepped into a puddle and grumbled. Saihara's eyes widened slightly and he looked back at his uncle. "A-ah no! It's nothing, I swear." He replied, and in return, his uncle stared at him. "... Fine, I wont pry, but if it really gets on your nerves so much, just talk it out with me." His uncle responded. Saihara was so thankful that his uncle wasn't a pushover. He opened the door to the backseat of the car and hopped in, buckling up. He was still thinking about Ouma, maybe he'll see him on his way home? No... the likeliness of that happening is pretty low. But... Was Ouma really telling the truth back there? It seemed too anticlimactic in a way. Surely there was something more, right? He just had to keep on persisting in hopes of finding the genuine answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY. So I postponed this for a while because I was pretty lazy but yknow :^)  
> I haven't even been a writer for more than a month and i'm already cringing at my work, isn't that g r e a t? And just a heads up: after a while of contemplating, decided to boost the rating up and go with my initial plan. This fan fiction is me projecting onto Saihara, in a way, so bare with me my pals!  
> (note: Uhhhhh I was getting bored near the end, so I quickened the pace, oopsies.)

**Author's Note:**

> everything's pretty happy right now. Just you wait, son.  
> (This is my first time writing something, so it's not the best! AND WOW I NEVER KNEW WRITING A FIC WOULD BE SO
> 
> SO MMMMMM)
> 
> (ALSO DILLAS I STOLE yOUR NaME foR SaihARA's UNCLE)


End file.
